It is well known that in various medical procedures, synthetic devices, that is devices made from foreign materials, are very often implanted. Examples of such techniques are in surgery wherein various metals such as stainless steel, tantalum and other metal clips are used to control bleeding and are used to block off various blood vessels or other tubular organs during the surgical procedure. Also, in certain surgical procedures, various other metal rods, clips or sheets of materials are used for various supports or other reasons during the surgical procedure. In most instances, these devices remain in the patient for considerable periods of time, though in some instances they may be removed at some later date or even rejected by the natural physiological function of the human body. For the most part, these medical-surgical devices, even though they may cause no harm from the medical viewpoint, it is desired they not be allowed to remain in the body as they greatly disrupt post-operative X-ray procedures and subsequent diagnostic imaging of the patient. The metal materials not only disrupt the X-ray procedures, but they also disrupt other diagnostic procedures such as computerized axial tomography, and the like. Hence, it is desirous that the surgical devices be replaced by plastic materials that do not have a disruptive effect on the new diagnostic imaging procedure. It is even more desirable to make the medical devices, in many instances, out of absorbable polymers so that once they have completed the desired function, they are absorbed by the natural functioning of the human body and, hence, have no subsequent effect on diagnostic imaging or the like.
Sutures have for some time been made from absorbable polymers and have found considerable use in surgical procedures. It is well known that such suture materials should be packaged dry to prevent hydrolysis. Technique for producing such dry absorbable sutures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,728,839 and 3,815,315. However, ligating clips have not been produced from absorbable polymers for a number of reasons, primarily because of the difficulty in molding such small devices and producing these small devices with the requisite physical properties required in these clips. Furthermore, when producing the clips from absorbable polymers, the clips being extremely small are produced with little orientation and their susceptability to be hydrolyzed is great. This requires that the clips be packaged in absolutely air-tight packages in order to have a sufficient shelf life to allow such clips to be sold and promoted for surgical procedures. Ligating clips made from absorbable polymers have thin hinge or bending areas which must be strong yet resilient and these areas are overly susceptible to hydrolysis. For such clips to have suitable shelf life, the hinge areas must be well protected against any moisture.
What I have discovered is an improved package which contains a plurality of ligating clips, the clips being made from absorbable polymer materials and having resilient hinges. Unexpectedly my new package maintains these clips in a condition for surgical use for extended shelf life periods even up to five years or more.